SEO, just like web site design, is a difficult market to navigate. Anyone and everyone with a laptop can set up a business and proclaim that they are an search engine optimisation expert however just like most other service businesses, there are ways to evaluate whether they are any good before you hand over any money.

It is important to do your research because it is very easy to harm a web site's ranking and make the situation even worse meaning that even fewer people will find your business online.

There's certainly no shortage of SEO tips available on the internet but they are generic. What you need is someone who understands SEO but who also understands your business, what you are selling and the technicalities of your web site. You may find someone who is great at SEO but if they have only worked on Joomla web sites and yours is a WordPress site, things may not go as smoothly as you would like.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation and it is the term used to describe various changes that can be made to move your web site to the top of the search engine rankings so that when someone types 'plumber in Great Yarmouth' your web site will be listed in the top results.

There are literally hundreds of changes that can be made and these are split into two categories - on-site and off-site SEO.

On-site SEO are changes to your actual web site, some of which are quite basic. If you are a plumber in Great Yarmouth then it's important to check that the words 'plumber' and 'Great Yarmouth' feature on your site. We've come across numerous customers who want to be found for certain keywords but fail to check whether they are even used on their on site - it's one of those things that's so obvious, it quite often gets overlooked.

More sophisticated changes include ensuring the site loads quickly and tools like Google's PageSpeed can help detect this. If your site is hosted on a server with thousands of other sites, it will load slowly. Google likes sites that people can view quickly so it is worth checking if your web hosting is good enough.

How much does SEO cost?

This varies from business to business due to the various x factors. For example, if you run a business, in a small town and you do not have any competitors, we should be able to get you to the top of Google very quickly. If you are based in Norwich and have lots of competitors, things may be a bit more difficult and take a bit longer.

Before giving you a price, we will take a look at your current web site, where you are ranking and discuss with you want to want to achieve. As with most things, time is money so the larger your budget the more time we can spend on the site and the quicker we can get things moving. That said, our basic package is very cheap and will likely pay for itself very quickly as new customers start to come your way.

We do offer a range of SEO packages and you can find more details here.

Will I need a new web site?

As we've already discussed a lot of the SEO work needs to be done on-site i.e. changes to your actual web site. There are some things that limit the work that we can do. For example, if you have a free web site with someone like Wix or Weebly you are unlikely to be found anywhere near the top results within the search engines. Although these sites are easy to build they lack the technical functionality which allows you to get to the top of the rankings so it is possible that you may need a new web site design.

We can help you with this and give you a range of options so it is always worth checking.

How long does SEO take?

This is another one that is difficult to answer without knowing more details about your particular site. Depending on your target keywords and your competitors, it may take a few months. We have had customers who have cancelled after just one month's worth of SEO because they became booked up so quickly - it really depends on your specific circumstances so please get in touch.

Summary

Can cheap SEO be effective? Well yes. It's important to talk to the company and do a bit of research. Our SEO packages are cheap because we have years of experience and so do not need to do lots of testing to know what's effective - we've already done that. We also like our customers to stay with us for the long term and recommend us to others. Cheap, effective packages allow us to do that.

We are always happy to discuss your options and do a SEO review of your web site. Just get in touch by calling us on 01493 249293 or e-mail us through our contact page.